After the Fall
by Bexteron
Summary: Set after Priority: Thessia. Shepard comforts Liara after the fall of her home planet.


_A/N: Updated/edited version of this one-shot after I noticed it had mistakes in it. _

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Shepard paced at the foot of Liara's bed. She searched for the words to soothe her, but for once she couldn't find them

"_How did this happen, Shepard?"_

It's the question Shepard has been asking herself for the past few years. How did this happen? How did they go from where they were, to where they were now, running for their lives and hiding in space away from the Reapers? They had received the signs but they were still so unprepared. Her warnings had gone unheeded; ignored as nothing other than lies and slander. Everyone had carried on as if nothing had happened; that a Reaper had never attacked the Citadel two years prior and that they were safe. The consequences of ignoring her now lay in piles of rubble and ash of the fallen planets the Reapers had invaded - the once beautiful cities reduced to nothing more than a haunting reminder of imminent death.

If they had been better prepared, or even if the council had listened to her, disasters such as the annihilation of Thessia could have been avoided. Her heart cried for Liara. Even now as she watched the asari sit upon her bed with tears streaming from her eyes, Shepard could tell Liara was still fighting – struggling to think of any way that she could help her people although her home planet had been decimated before her eyes; her people slaughtered and her entire society…_gone._

Shepard was so used to seeing her look so collected. Liara had changed since she had become the Shadow Broker, her confidence conquering her nervousness. Her personality was worlds away from the shy archaeologist she had saved and fallen in love with Therum. But seeing her now, broken, crying, unsure of what else to do but attempt to hold herself together in the wake of the destruction of her home planet, Liara looked like a helpless child, confused and afraid.

Shepard's whole body had ached, still ached from when she was forced to leave Earth. Her heart needed to stay where she was born, her instincts screaming to protect the place where she had grown up. Seeing it ravaged by the Reapers and their uncaring, savage way nearly tore her in two. She'd had to watch as her home city was razed and invaded by deformed husks of the species already stolen away by the evil bastards. Seeing it happen again on another planet almost killed her again. She couldn't imagine how Liara must be taking seeing the same thing on Thessia.

"My entire civilization, the asari history…the Protheans made it a lie all along," Liara whispered, staring blankly at her hand. "And I abandoned my people to hunt for the Catalyst!"

"You'd never do that," Shepard tried to reassure her.

"They're dying by the _millions_!" Liara argued, raising her voice.

She looked up with tears in her eyes and Shepard felt her heart squeeze painfully in response. All she wanted to do was hold her in her arms, or wish that she can take back what had happened and reverse the devastation that had rocked them both after seeing their homes destroyed.

"I told those people on Thessia we'd save them!" Liara narrowed her eyes, glaring as though she could see it all happening again in her mind. "How many asari died because _I_ demanded their help?"

Shepard lowered herself onto the bed. "You couldn't have saved them, Liara, even if we'd got there before Cerberus. It wouldn't have stopped the Reapers. It won't help anyone if you blame yourself. Trust me…I know."

Liara stared at her for a long moment, her eyes glassy and her cheeks wet. Shepard could see that she was reliving all the time they had spent together, all the death they had tried to prevent, but it was inevitable. Fighting the Reapers was like fighting a force bigger than life itself. It seemed pointless, but no matter what, they fought nonetheless. She didn't want Liara to give up. Not now. If she had to watch her best friend and the love of her life let herself be consumed by the grief of her people, she feared she would lose her.

Shepard knew when the fight left her. Liara's shoulders sagged with defeat, the light in her sparkling blue eyes dimming. "You're right," the broken asari whispered, nodding as she moved to lay on her front. She curled into a ball and hid her face. "I know. I just wish that…there was something that I could do to help. I wish I could help my people."

Unable to withstand seeing her lover looking so utterly defeated and sad, Shepard scooted around until she sat beside her. She placed her hand on Liara's thigh and squeezed gently.

"I understand what you're feeling, Liara. I hated leaving Earth. Seeing it like that…" Shepard shook her head and closed her eyes, seeing it all again. "I wanted to stay and fight. I wanted to protect my home. Even now every instinct I have is telling me to go back and give them bastards everything I have. But Anderson was right. I'm needed here." She reached out to stroke Liara's cheek gently with the back of her fingers. "And so are you. Your people need you here. _I_…need you."

Liara sniffed tearfully. She looked up, her eyes puffy and her lip quivering but she still retained the effort to smile slightly. "You do?"

"Always, Liara."

Shepard smiled and cupped Liara's cheek, brushing away her tears with her thumb. The asari reached up and held the hand on her face, closing her eyes as if Shepard's touch healed her.

"You are always so strong, even in the most pressing situations." Liara opened her eyes to look at her, her eyes asking a million questions but none passing her lips. "I don't know how you do it, Shepard."

"I just remind myself of what I still have."

"You are all I have left."

Shepard placed a kiss on Liara's cheek and rose from the bed, making her way over to the console Liara had brought back from the Shadow Broker's lair. "Maybe not."

"What do you mean?"

"If we move fast enough, maybe we can still help the asari? Thessia may have fallen but your people haven't. We can still save them. We can give them another chance…a chance to rebuild a life."

Liara's eyes grew wide and she sprung from the bed as a realization hit her. She moved in front of Shepard and anxiously started tapping away at the keys with renewed purpose. "I can help the refugees. It isn't much but it is the least I can do to help. Maybe it will relieve some of the guilt, too."

Shepard encircled her arms around Liara's waist, pulling her close and rested her head on her lover's shoulder. "You have nothing to be guilty about, Liara. You've been trying to warn them for the past four years. It isn't your fault."

"Thank you, Shepard," Liara exhaled, relieved that she could help again.

Shepard smiled softly and whispered, "Anytime."


End file.
